Covenant of the Phoenix
Beginnings of an ideology: During the Troll wars the quel’dorei were waging a desperate defense of their lands against the Amani menace which had been preparing their invasion for an enormous length of time. In those dark days the foundation of the Covenant came into existence, a train of thought was formulated by a wounded Elven soldier residing, according to the Covenant itself, around what are now the ruins of Suncrown Village. The Elf named Salion Emberlight formulated the idea that the continued existence of Quel’Thalas was founded upon an absolute ruler of the nation, in contrast to the existing Silver Circle, this belief is founded upon the idea that the king will always be the most capable of his people. As he saw, in his own words; “my beloved Quel’Thalas drowning in the perilous sea of savage predators.” He too came to the conclusion that a disciplined military was needed, this idea was tempered in the fires of the Troll Wars to include that the army needed an unrelenting resolve to combat any threats and an absolute loyalty to the king of Quel’Thalas. Lacking any one of these two requirements he believed that the army would never be strong enough to hold off the barbarians existing outside of the kingdom’s borders. In time Salion’s ideas gained popularity amongst an absolute minority of the Quel’dorei and was at its most popular in the borderlands, Salion spent his life after the Troll Wars writing down his ideas for posterity and attempting to make his people see what was needed, Salion died shortly after having written down this new ideology, his life had seen him go from a soldier defending Quel’Thalas to a relatively unsuccessful philosopher who had seen what was needed for the survival of Quel’Thalas and its people. Times of peace: Salion’s writings went from one pair of hands to the other amongst the people who shared the ideology he had made, one of the elves who eventually came into possession of the original writings and added to them, was one known only as A.S., the authenticity of these writings has been disputed with allegations running that the writings were added only after the blood elves came to be. Almost nothing is known about A.S.’ personal life or anything else, all that has been passed down to the Covenant of the Phoenix are what he has written down, which were written in the same book as Salion wrote in. What is known though that he advocated the same as Salion, a strong army, an absolute ruler but to this he added some of his own. It seems, from his writings, A.S. never was a soldier but a man living in the borderlands who concerned himself with his family and the kingdom. His writings often spoke of the importance of family in relation to the continued existence of the kingdom, it was in his mind every man and woman’s duty to care for the future generations of Thalassian citizens for without the future generations there would be no Quel’Thalas. “We are not many when compared to the Trolls, it is such that we must ensure our offspring are as capable as they can be expected to be, and that they are well cared for.” – Quote attributed to A.S. He too spent many pages writing about the ideal elf, he believed that one such elf could lead his people to greater heights through sheer charisma and force of will alone. “…As such, the people must understand that there are clear differences between not only the races of the world and the people of Quel’Thalas, but that there is also an undeniable difference between one elf and the other. Such ideal elves hold many characteristics which can only be lauded; an eternal love for their people, an everlasting sense of duty to Quel’Thalas, a pragmatic approach to all existing peoples and a great understanding of the arcane, yet we mustn’t forget an iron will and the ability to rouse the masses. The ideal elf of our time, of course, is our beloved king, Anasterian Sunstrider. In the past one such elf was our former king, Dath’remar Sunstrider.” His work about what would be an ideal elf is the last known writing attributed to himself personally before the Scourge tore beloved Quel’Thalas apart, a process in which he seemed to have died according to the Covenant who cite an ode distributed by an anonymous elf. “A great thinker of our times has passed, I read his works and are we, the survivors, not lucky to have his works and those of Salion Emberlight preserved? This great man’s life was the opposite of our revered Emberlight who lived as a hero and died as a peaceful philosopher. No, our great thinker lived as a peaceful philosopher and died a hero early in this calamity! He showed us the love for Quel’Thalas he spoke of by dying while fighting to preserve it, a hero’s death. Let us remember his words and his deeds. Let us remember him and all who perished.” The twin priesthoods: After the decimation of Quel’Thalas by the Scourge two priesthoods arose to prominence amongst the followers of Salion’s philosophy, officialy founding the Covenant upon his and A.S. works primarily, of which Salion’s had already been refined by some and A.S.’ works would meet such a fate too. The twin priesthoods would dominate the Covenant for a long time. The Priesthood of Sun’s fury as it became known advocated hard-handed reassertion of Thalassian power by all means necessary, those opposed to the regency of lord Theron were to be punished without delay as they were a threat to the unity of kingdom, they advocated taking the fight to the Scourge immediately, making use of whatever magics were needed to restore Quel’Thalas and so on. The other priesthood became known as the Priesthood of Sun’s bounty, believing that the sin’dorei needed to bide their time and slowly restore their nation, and not making use of whatever magics were needed to restore Quel’Thalas but to make use of the magics of the past. During a majority of the Covenant’s existence the Priesthood of Sun’s fury held the upper hand within the Covenant itself, yet after Kael’thas’ betrayal and the events of the Sunwell the Priesthood of Sun’s bounty began to assert itself more and more at the expense of the other, until they were equal in influence. Yet the time of both holding essentially equal influence also brought the end of their prominence within the Covenant as they were outmaneuvered by a group of magisters who found their ideals matching the ideals of the Covenant. What can best be described as a power struggle within the Covenant passed as quickly as it had come, the magisters who had begun it rose firmly to power, created a single council with one of their own at its head to reign over the Covenant. Rumors though exist of another council filled only by the magisters themselves, who have not shown their faces since attaining control, and their representative to the official council. These rumors, amongst others, have fueled allegations against the Covenant that it is but an extension of the magisters’ power within Silvermoon, though vehemently denied to the public, those who raise these allegations within the Covenant have been swiftly silenced by the Wardens of the Sun and face allegations of attempting to discredit the Covenant and trying to create a rift amongst the people of Quel’Thalas Category:Founding